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GB on an iBook?

D

DarkSonicYouth5

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2004
12
0
Hey everybody. I'm looking at Apple notebooks and as of right now the 12 inch iBook looks about right. I really want to use GB but I'm not sure if the iBook has the audio-in port. This is important for me because I play guitar and I need to get the music in there somewhere. I already know of a cable that connects the analog cable for the guitar to the computer, but what I want to know is if I would need something like an iMic or a device like it to get the audio into the computer.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The iBook does not have an audio in port. I have an iMic with my iBook G3. It runs really bad, but I dont know if thats because of the iMic or the G3. I havent been able to test the new version because my iBook is getting it's logic board replaced :( .
 
Yeah, unfortunately, if you want the audio in you have to shell out for the PowerBook. I'd consider the 12" PowerBook anyway - with GarageBand you need all the power you can get and the faster processor will help. However, it's quite a step up in price from the excellent value 12" iBook G4.

As said, you can buy an audio interface that works with USB but I have no experience with these. I think there has been some problems with latency and GarageBand but I'm not sure as to the extent of the problem or which systems it affects. The great thing about the line in on my PowerBook is that I don't need a pre-amp - I plug my guitar in and it is already loud enough to record straight into GarageBand.

EDIT: Or, regarding the iBook in the post above, I think that may be the G3. I think GarageBand uses alti-vec and so make sure you get the new iBook G4, not an older G3 model. Software instruments are the main problem with CPU power, although line-in recording will not be so much of a problem on slower machines.
 
I was going to start with "GarageBand is crap" but I'll change it :)

GarageBand performance is terrible but I will assume it will be improved in a couple of point revisions. Play with Soundtrack or Ableton Live and you will see what I mean.

An iBook should be ok but as others have said, make sure its a G4 as you will definately need your vector engines to help with the load.
 
Originally posted by encro
I was going to start with "GarageBand is crap" but I'll change it :)

GarageBand performance is terrible but I will assume it will be improved in a couple of point revisions. Play with Soundtrack or Ableton Live and you will see what I mean.
Click to expand...

Soundtrack is also $200. and iMovie "sucks" compared to FCE2 too. but i imagine performance can only improve.

as for the original poster, any chance for you to stop by an apple store and play around with GB on an iBook there? you can easily make a direct comparison with PB as well...
 
I just got my first Apple two days ago. It is a new iBook 12" with the standard 256MB of RAM. I loaded Garage band and thought it was cool. But I did have problems playing some of the demo songs. Some of them would stop playing in the middle and give an error that the hard drive was to slow. I am assuming that is problem is because 256MB isn't enough memory. My 512MB RAM from crucial is going to be delivered today. I'm hoping that solves the problem.

lasuther
 
Originally posted by lasuther
I just got my first Apple two days ago. It is a new iBook 12" with the standard 256MB of RAM. I loaded Garage band and thought it was cool. But I did have problems playing some of the demo songs. Some of them would stop playing in the middle and give an error that the hard drive was to slow. I am assuming that is problem is because 256MB isn't enough memory. My 512MB RAM from crucial is going to be delivered today. I'm hoping that solves the problem.

lasuther
Click to expand...

I had the same problem. If you have fil vault on and you are working with the song in the home folder that can be why. I heard that as you are working on the song, file vault in encrypting it and that slows it down. I then made a new folder outside the home and never got that message again. Try that.
 
Imic

I've been using Imic for guitar and vocals...definitely some latency issues, but, then, I"m on a 500mhz g3 ibook. But I just started playing, and I've already found a few tricks, like going in to System Prefs, and setting the audio in to Internal Mic. I'm not even sure what that means, cuz i didn't think it had a mic, but it seems to be working. Now my only problem is a slight crackling. Guitar latency is bad...I'm experienting with mic'ing my amp.
 
whoa...hold the press...i just realized that my ibook does indeed have an internal mic, and guess what? it's working about 10 times better than the external mic/imic combo.....weird....I think the imic connection is not so hot. kind of want my 35 bucks back, but maybe the Monster I. Adapter helps? But man, this program is starting to be fun.
 
Are real instrument effects considered software? If i try to record more than one guitar with effects, it says the computer is too slow. I think I'm just gonna stick with Acid Pro on my oc'ed Celeron :D. Atleast then I can record multiple guitar tracks and i already have a midi interface on my sound card.
 
Expect GarageBand performance to considerably improve over the next few point releases.

Another thing hampering the Apple notebooks is the 4200rpm drives - GarageBand seems to make heavy demands on the hard drive.
 
jhartung said:
whoa...hold the press...i just realized that my ibook does indeed have an internal mic, and guess what? it's working about 10 times better than the external mic/imic combo.....weird....I think the imic connection is not so hot. kind of want my 35 bucks back, but maybe the Monster I. Adapter helps? But man, this program is starting to be fun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the iBooks have an internal mic... but you won't get anywhere near the same quality as through a direct line in. I sure wish Apple would put audio in in the iBooks. But then that would be yet another cannibalism of the 12" PB... :( (P.S. Anyone else here not like the new smilies? Yech...)
 
i just used garageband on an ibook 700mhz and oh man is it sloooow!!

i can record many tracks in dp4 on my ibook without much trouble..i can't record a single track in garage band without it just dieing...

whats the deal!?? i'm thinking somethin is just plain wrong

puke!
 
howard said:
i just used garageband on an ibook 700mhz and oh man is it sloooow!!

i can record many tracks in dp4 on my ibook without much trouble..i can't record a single track in garage band without it just dieing...

whats the deal!?? i'm thinking somethin is just plain wrong

puke!
Click to expand...

Its about like that on my iBook 800MHz too. I cant record more than 1 track. If I use effects on said track, it craps out after about 15 seconds. Apple should have just required a G4 for GarageBand cause it runs like total crap. It was a waste of $40 because all I wanted was garage band. I dont see how a 600MHz G3 is a minimum requirement...
 
well i think i figured things out

with no amp models or anything like that it works fine...with them it sucks..so that sucks for people who don't have a direct box of some kind and an ibook,

the reasoning for this...

well the ibook doesn't have a direct line in so they can't use them without an input box...and i doubt people buying the consumer notebook will want to spend money on an input box...

yeah its stupid reasoning... they should just say requirement is g4
 
AdamR01 said:
Its about like that on my iBook 800MHz too. I cant record more than 1 track. If I use effects on said track, it craps out after about 15 seconds. Apple should have just required a G4 for GarageBand cause it runs like total crap. It was a waste of $40 because all I wanted was garage band. I dont see how a 600MHz G3 is a minimum requirement...
Click to expand...

True. Perfectly true. same with my G3. I can't even play the heavy lead guitar software instrument without the ol' book dieing.
I considered GB inexpensive, but it turned out to be plain cheap.
 
My 12" PB 1GHz with only 256MB of onboard RAM struggles with quite simple compositions... I'm going to get another 512MB from crucial, i really hope it helps - cos the performance i'm getting is below my expectations!!
 
hob said:
My 12" PB 1GHz with only 256MB of onboard RAM struggles with quite simple compositions... I'm going to get another 512MB from crucial, i really hope it helps - cos the performance i'm getting is below my expectations!!
Click to expand...
I've only ever had 768MB RAM in my 12" 1GHz when using GarageBand but I can say it's much better than you describe. However, performance is way down on other similar apps. It hasn't limited my creativity yet though.
 
got any ideas?

so from what I'm gathering, I'm basically not going to have much luck recording my music with my little ibook g3... is that the consensus? I am doing just 4 tracks, max; acoustic guitar and vocals. If I were to want to try it anyway, what would I need to get to record? If anyone wants to lay it out (preferably in kindergartner's terms) I would appreciate it because I have only ever used 4 and 8 tracks before and this software was a gift. So far I've just played with the stock tracks and it freezes if I have too many tracks open (more than 5 or 6). Thanks to anyone who helps :)

-Reggie
 
What's working great for me...

I'm using M-Audio's PreUSB audio interface, and the computer has a G4 @ 1GHz and I got a GB of RAM. Once I tweaked some latency settings, the system works really really well. I plug guitar right into the interface, as well as a studio condensor mike (the interface has XLR inputs and phantom power). I've also got the 1/4" outs feeding to my stereo, so even when I'm not recording, just screwing around on my electric, I'll open up garageband and play through my stereo.

If you can get a GB of ram in the iBook you should be fine. Don't know where they max out. For the absolute sweetest portable set up I would also suggest buying a USB powered FM transmitter. The interface runs off USB power as well. Throw in a pair of FM headphones set to the right frequency, and you could plug in and start recording anywhere you are.

I'd also recommend the jam pack. it's another 100 dollars but all the extra effects and synth instruments are well worth it.

I'd also suggest not using the direct line in b/c I imagine it is harder to control the signal strength into the computer. The interface has a nice little gain knob that allows quick adjustments if I decide to play through my real pedals or if I decide to plug in my acoustic.
 
platophonic said:
so from what I'm gathering, I'm basically not going to have much luck recording my music with my little ibook g3... is that the consensus? I am doing just 4 tracks, max; acoustic guitar and vocals. If I were to want to try it anyway, what would I need to get to record? If anyone wants to lay it out (preferably in kindergartner's terms) I would appreciate it because I have only ever used 4 and 8 tracks before and this software was a gift. So far I've just played with the stock tracks and it freezes if I have too many tracks open (more than 5 or 6). Thanks to anyone who helps :)

-Reggie
Click to expand...


what g3 do you have and how much ram?

if you have max ram you might be able to pull it off WITHOUT using the amp models...however to record 4 tracks your gonna need to buy an input device....

now let me get this straight, do you want to record 4 tracks at the same time? or just 4 tracks total?
 
thanks!

howard said:
what g3 do you have and how much ram?

if you have max ram you might be able to pull it off WITHOUT using the amp models...however to record 4 tracks your gonna need to buy an input device....

now let me get this straight, do you want to record 4 tracks at the same time? or just 4 tracks total?
Click to expand...

iBook
CPU Type: PowerPC 750 (1.12)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 700 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 256 MB

I want to record and mix four separate tracks. Don't have alot of cash to invest and a number of issues. The worst is actually being very left handed. I want a new guitar but have to shell out for a leftie. So I need to put a pickup in my acoustic, and then go from there. Have never recorded on anything but a 4-track and mixed onto cassette. Yyou have any more input or ideas? I am not a computer gearhead so most of what people are saying on here goes WAY overhead, lol. I just want a simple way to record with as little signal interference as possible. Raw sound, no effects, etc. Thanks again. All help very appreciated!
 
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